On the second part of Let’s Talk Industry Guest Speaker Series we were happy to welcome Tracy Halliwell, Director of Business Tourism & Major Events at London & Partners.

Tracy who is a BU alumni herself started her career in hotels and catering where she spent 20 years working her way up to more senior positions. She then decided she wanted to try something new and went on to destination marketing.

During her presentation she gave an in-depth perspective of the organisation London & Partners which was launched in 2011 to bring together several organisations with the aim to talk with one voice, vision and mission to promote London and attract and deliver value to business, students and visitors. London & Partners is a not-for-profit public private partnership, funded by the Mayor of London’s office and their network of commercial partners.

Tracy shared her experiences from working on the Olympics 2012 where London & Partners played a big role, not only in the bidding process but also regarding accommodation, hospitality, media centre, the Mayor’s Hospitality Programme and the Cultural Olympiad -Summer Like No Other. One of the challenges was the so called displacement effect that often takes place in destinations before and after a major event. This effect was minimized by London & Partners by providing a range of initiatives encouraging people to visit London.

When asked by the students what she likes most about her job Tracy replied that she has a varied job where no one day is the same. Her advice to students is to get as much work experience as possible to stand out from the crowd and have real life experiences to talk about when applying for jobs.

By: Maria Näs